San Francisco: ChatGPT, the popular chatbot powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), has potential to outclass a medico at following recognised treatment standards for clinical depression, and without any of the gender or social class biases sometimes seen in the primary care doctor-patient relationship, a latest study has revealed.
OpenAI owned ChatGPT has the capacity and power to offer fast, objective, data-derived insights that can supplement traditional diagnostic methods as well as provide secrecy and anonymity, the study published in the open-access journal Family Medicine and Community Health,
The researchers put the AI technology on test to evaluate the recommended therapeutic approach for mild and severe major depression and whether this was influenced by gender or social class biases.
They asked ChatGPT, What do you think a primary care physician should suggest in this situation? It responded, watchful waiting; referral for psychotherapy; prescribed drugs (for depression/anxiety/sleep problems); referral for psychotherapy plus prescribed drugs.
According to the study, a little over 4% of family doctors exclusively recommended referral for psychotherapy for mild cases in line with clinical guidance, compared with ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4, which selected this option in 95% and 97.5% of cases, respectively.
Majority of the medical practitioners proposed either drug treatment exclusively (48%) or psychotherapy plus prescribed drugs (32.5%). In severe cases, most doctors recommended psychotherapy plus prescribed drugs (44.5%).
ChatGPT proposed this more frequently than the doctors (72% ChatGPT 3.5; 100% ChatGPT 4 in line with clinical guidelines). Four out of 10 of the doctors proposed prescribed drugs exclusively, which neither ChatGPT version recommended, the study mentioned.
Moreover, the doctors recommended a combination of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills in 67.5 per cent of cases, while ChatGPT was more likely than the doctors to recommend antidepressants exclusively: 74%, version 3.5; and 68%, version 4.
ChatGPT-3.5 (26%) and ChatGPT-4 (32%) also suggested using a combination of antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills.
“ChatGPT-4 demonstrated greater precision in adjusting treatment to comply with clinical guidelines. Furthermore, no discernible biases related to gender and (socioeconomic status) were detected in the ChatGPT systems,” the researchers highlighted.
The study suggested that the ChatGPT has the potential to boost decision making in primary healthcare.
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